Adventures on a Budget

Friday, April 13, 2012

Day 11: Columbia, SC - LeTigre goes home!

While we were camped the second night at Great Smoky Mountains N.P., we met Mick, the owner of a newer Tiger RV. He reminded us that the Tiger factory is in Columbia, South Carolina. We were going right thru there on our way to Savannah, GA so we called ahead and spoke with Kay who said it'd be fine if we dropped by for a visit!

In this modest building, some of the greatest expedition vehicles on the market are being built.

And our goofy little LeTigre is a predecessor to these awesome rigs!

When we arrived at the shop we met Kay in person who had arranged for Joe to take us on a tour of the shop!

This is one of the Tigers undergoing construction before it gets married to the truck chassis.

Even Kipper was invited along so he didn't have to wait in the van! Joe toured us thru the factory and explained every step of the process that goes into making these awesome vehicles.

This is a brand new truck being prepped to receive the Tiger conversion.

Nearby was a unit nearing completion. Almost ready for paint...

A completed "Bengal Tiger".

This model has a higher roof than the standard "CX" model for buyers who require more headroom. These rigs are built to go anywhere in comfort. They can't really be called "motorhomes" anymore because that doesn't really convey what they can do and where you can go with them. Joe refers to them as "adventure vehicles," which is much more appropriate. Check out the gallery on their website and check out the "Travelin Tortuga" blog and you'll see that their customers are taking these vehicles into every corner of the globe.

The new rigs have evolved to the point that they don't have much in common with the old Tigers, like our LeTigre, except for some hints at the original shape and the interior layout. However, the current owner, Mark, has really embraced the company's history and even has the first Tiger ever built in a corner of the shop! Luckily, the original owners called him out of the blue when they decided to sell it and Mark bought it! In addition to that, all over the lobby there're old photos, newspaper articles, and reviews about the older models, like ours. There's also an annual rally held in June where Tiger owners new and old get together and share stories about their travels in these great vehicles!

Mark even took the time to look over LeTigre and help me suss out a charging issue we're having with our 12-volt system. We've met several new Tiger owners during our travels and have heard repeatedly that Mark is a great guy to deal with and he really listens to his customers.

Technically LeTigre was built in the original location outside Denver but we considered this a homecoming for her and were so impressed with the facility, the vehicles, and most of all, the people. Angie and I won't be in the market anytime soon on our meager travel budget for a new Tiger (although we aspire to own one!) so we were truly flattered that the people at Tiger Adventure Vehicles took the time to show us around. Thanks to Mark, Kay, Joe, Bill, and everyone at Tiger.

1 comment:

This is a great testimonial and an awesome plug for them. So glad I stumbled upon your blog. It has been a treat reading about your travels perhaps one of those fundraising sites would allow you to pitch your next community service project a goodwill trip in the USA. the internet is an awesome way to generate (Ad)venture capital who knows

After enjoying our time in St. Louis, we headed south to Memphis to visit... Graceland! Elvis was only 22 when he purchased the col...

Travel Wisdom by Paul Theroux

You think of travellers as bold, but our guilty secret is that travel is one of the laziest ways on earth of passing the time. Travel is not merely the business of being bone-idle, but also an elaborate bumming evasion, allowing us to call attention to ourselves with our conspicuous absence while we intrude upon other people’s privacy - being actively offensive as fugitive freeloaders.

Life Wisdom by Mark Twain

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

About

We met many many moons ago in Austin, TX (please don't move there). Angie went to UT and worked in non-profits as a program manager. Greg worked in various fields and played the drums. We lived, we worked, we laughed, we played. Then, in 2011, one of us had a birthday that didn't sit well and convinced the other one to quit her job and travel the U.S. in a tiny (TINY) RV with our dog. The other one went along with it because, what the heck else was she to do? and packed up the TINY RV with their not-so-tiny dog and they traveled for a year. 43 U.S. states and 7 Canadian provinces later, we're still together and now both are 110% sold on the travel thing. In 2015, we bought another camper van. And our adventures continue, with the same three characters. The end goal? Not so much a goal as an idea. Maybe there will be some sailing involved. Definitely other countries. Hopefully, Panama...